‘The English Wife’ book review: A Gilded Age marriage drama and intriguing mystery

"The English Wife," by Lauren Willig, sees a dead man's sister and a reporter team up to uncover the murder mystery. (St. Martin's Press)

It's 1899 in New York, and the scion of an Old Money family and his English wife are opening their extravagant new home for a ball. In the midst of the festivities, tragedy strikes the seemingly happy couple. Bayard Van Duyvil is found dying of a stab wound, and his wife Annabelle has disappeared.

Scandal erupts. Rumors had swirled that Annabelle was having an affair with their architect, so the papers declare her husband must have killed his cuckolding wife and himself. Or, could she have killed him and run off?

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Then, a mysterious English relative shows up claiming Annabelle wasn't who she said she is. There's also cousin Anne, Bayard's best friend since childhood who was always a little too close to him.

Bayard's sister, the erstwhile mild-mannered and dutiful Janie, can't believe her doting brother — Bay — could have killed Annabelle. They had been so in love, building their palace retreat on the Hudson. The siblings' mother, the proud Mrs. Van Duyvil, wishes Bay had never gone to London and married Annabelle, because what did they even know about this English wife, anyway?

Janie forges an unlikely alliance with a newspaper reporter, Mr. Burke, and they set out to solve the murder. Slowly, this family's many secrets start to come out.

"The English Wife" alternates between 1899 — Janie's perspective — and a few years earlier, starting in London, as we watch Bay's romance with his wife unfold. Lauren Willig is skilled in historical fiction and draws us deeply into the world of Gilded Age New York, from its odd wool bathing suits to its obsession with appearances and social "station."

There's quite a cast of characters, and some are underused or underdeveloped, but the members of the Van Duyvil clan are vividly drawn. The book is also perfectly paced, as we're gradually fed clues and revelations that keep us guessing until the very end.

"The English Wife" by Lauren Willig is out now from St. Martin's Press.